When should school start and end for the year?

[kakn7294]

There is a bill proposed in PA that would require that public schools do not start the new year until after Labor Day. This year, my DD's will start school in the morning - on Aug 23. We are the only district in our area to start this soon. They also go until usually somewhere around the 8 - 10 of June. I love the idea of this bill - I'm sick of cutting my summer plans (including needing to change the week of my recent vacation to WDW) because of how short our summer breaks are. For a non-year-round school, when do you think the school year should start and end? I'd like to see it go back to the way it was when I was a kid - start the day after Labor Day and end at the end of May or very beginning of June. Let the kids have a real summer break! Please, to all who post - let's keep this discussion civil and not get nasty with each other.

[SPCMT]

well in my high school we get out mid-july and get back in early september...i know that my cousins school in arizona gets out in may but gets back in August...i would rather have hers becasue she has all of May to go to DL and stuff when everyone else is still in school but if everyone switches to that...it sort of defeats the purpose

[Sunshine1010]

My son's school:

School starts the last week of July
School ends the last week of May

.....he's got a whopping 8 1/2 weeks for summer break.

Poor kid......

[BigRedDad]

NC passed a similar Bill that schools cannot start prior to Aug 25 and end no later than June 10th (or somewhere around that date in June). The problem with it is that they left room for "exceptions". Over half the counties have exceptions to this Bill meaning it is a Bill for the minority. In my county, there is such over crowding, most Elementary schools and some middle schools are Year Round (on 9 weeks, off 3 weeks). Once the Bill gets removed, I am betting my county will take all Elementary and Middle schools to YR.

[conorsmom2000]

Our district has always started school the Wednesday after Labor Day - it's been that way since I was a kid. What frustrates me, though, is the last day of school. Last day of school, has to be a set date due to the HS graduation - back when I was in HS in this district, the graduation party was held at the HS. Parents decorated the entire HS in a elaborate theme - it was open to the public for one afternoon prior to Graduation because it was such a popular thing to see. But, within 5 years of my graduating, they stopped having the graduation party at the HS because they could not get enough parents to help anymore. So, now the party is held outside the school and it must be booked a year in advance. So that, plus the "built in snow days", means that we have a set date of June 25th as the last day of school. This is also pushed backed later than in the past because we now have a week off in February as a "Fuel Conservation Week" - in the past, we only had a 3 day weekend for Presidents Day, now we get the whole week off.

Should we not use all our built in snow days, as we didn't this year, they can no longer adjust the date of the last day of school - now the kids are given a longer Memorial Day weekend (Con was off Friday, Monday and Tuesday this year, instead of just Monday). And it works the opposite way too - should we go over our snow days, the days are then taken off our April Spring break, shortening that vacation week - because they can't add on at the end of the year since it's a set date.

It's all rather confusing, but the bottom line is that I think June 25th is awful late to be getting out. Not in terms of not having enough of a break for the summer, but in terms of the fact that it's hot in the NE at that time and these are old schools with no AC - both kids and teachers will admit that not much gets done in the month of June because it's just too hot. Personally, I'd rather see them get out mid-June and lose some of the breaks during the year.

By the way, I personally like the idea of year round schools, but I'm wondering if that's harder for working parents? I'm not debating it, just thinking out loud....

[kakn7294]

I have wondered about the year-round school thing too. I haven't decided if I would like it or not although I'm leaning towards liking it. I know that they would miss the longer summer break that they have now but with only 10 weeks off anyway, so I don't think that their summer would really be reduced by that much time. BTW, my girls going back to school today is about a week earlier than many districts in the area and about 2 weeks earlier than many Pittsburgh area schools but we don't finish the year earlier than any of them - in fact, most finish before we do. We have so many piddly breaks - a 3 day weekend here, a day off for teacher development there, built-in snow days, a spring break - that's what extends our school year.

[BigRedDad]

By the way, I personally like the idea of year round schools, but I'm wondering if that's harder for working parents? I'm not debating it, just thinking out loud....

I could go on all day about that discussion. For the kids and most teachers (the ones that actually get the 3 weeks off), it is a tremendous benefit. The teachers have less burn-out, the kids retain more information. Working parents have to find alternatives, but there are many programs available now for these things. I just wish my wife can get into one of the schools to teach. Makes vacationing 100x easier with crowds and cost.

kakn7294,
The comment in your signature about WDW only being the MK, they had River Country then They also had that massive arcade in the Contemporary with the shooting gallery (when they actually had BBs), the Hercules pinball machine, and a bunch of others. I almost enjoyed that as much as MK.

[BMan62]

Pennsylvania has a state law that school must be in session for 180 days per year. The school district can specify school year start and end dates, but they MUST be in session 180 days and holidays and in-services do not count.

That is 36 weeks. Giving a week mid-semester break in fall and winter sessions and a two week Christmas/New Years break, there is 40 weeks off the calendar year. Add Labor Day, Thanksgiving (2 - 3 days depending on whether or not your district gives First Day of Deer Season off,) Easter (Good Friday,) President's Day, MLK Day, in-services, etc. and you have two more full weeks off bringing the total to 42 weeks (or more.)

Now, that only leaves 10 weeks for Summer vacation. If you start after Labor Day, then you would have to run into late June.

[Caroleh]

When I lived in Iowa, we would start around the last week of August and get out the first week of June. Up here they start the Tuesday after Labor Day and go until the end of June. They usually have 2 weeks off in Feb. for spring break.

[murphy1]

My kids started August 8th and end in June, I believe beginning of the month. The hard part here in GA is that they haven't been able to get out for recess much b/c our heat has been 100 degress most days!!! Their dad has been taking them to our community pool when he gets home from work to let them get out and cool off. I think Florida has been a week after us.

(PS I want to see a trip report and pics from you Kathy!!!)

[Darbylew]

Our schools here in the panhandle of Florida
started on Aug. 20 and will get out on June 5.
We are disappointed that there will be no fall
break this year by starting later. We usually go
to WDW during the fall break but not this year.
They will get a week at Thanksgiving and then
have a spring break.

[tink2006]

There is a bill proposed in PA that would require that public schools do not start the new year until after Labor Day. ... I love the idea of this bill ... I'd like to see it go back to the way it was when I was a kid - start the day after Labor Day and end at the end of May or very beginning of June.

I am in Indiana and our schools started August 13th and will go until the end of May/early June. The State required some schools to start earlier, based on declining IStep scores.

I agree! Schools should not start until after Labor Day and they should end for summer break end of May/early June. Our school system has many one day "breaks/holidays" throughout the school year. There is not much that can be done with just one day. Why not eliminate some of these days? We also have several teacher in-service 1/2 days. Maybe they can consolidate some of these as well.

I think a good education is one of the most important gifts we can give our children. Therefore, I am not suggesting less time in school just more efficient use of the time. Teachers....Please do not be offended. I realize that you have one of the most important jobs - educating our children! You do the best job possible given the many constraints imposed - thank you.

[Ian]

Well let's start with me expressing my frustration with the fact that our school district doesn't have full day kindergarten. I think that's ridiculous, considering most kids have been going to all day day care and pre-school by now.

My DD's kindergarten goes for a whopping 3 hours a day, leaving us with a big child care headache. For all the money we pour into our public school system, you'd think they could have full day classes.

On to the topic at hand ... I like the bill. I think kids are under too much pressure as it is these days with school. They need the extended break that summer brings.

Although I'd be an advocate of year-round school, too, assuming they had enough vacation weeks scheduled in there. I think that's a good way to relieve stress, too.

[Momof2boys]

Here in Wisconsin we have a law that states school cannot start until September 1st. Some years we start the Thursday or Friday before Labor Day, but this year with the 1st being on a Saturday we won't start until the 4th. Our last day of school is June 11th.

[murphy1]

Wow, Ian, it would at least be nice to have a choice whether you want full or half day, I can't believe that she only gets three hours. You can do half day here at private schools for K or full. All of our public funded prek 4's are full day and K public is full.

[conorsmom2000]

Well let's start with me expressing my frustration with the fact that our school district doesn't have full day kindergarten. I think that's ridiculous, considering most kids have been going to all day day care and pre-school by now.

My DD's kindergarten goes for a whopping 3 hours a day, leaving us with a big child care headache. For all the money we pour into our public school system, you'd think they could have full day classes.

Our district also does not have full day kindergarten which is very frustrating, especially as most of area already has full day K. Conor attended Kindergarten for a whopping 2 hours and 42 minutes - considering they have the same curriculm guidelines as the schools that have full day K, this meant his teacher had to do the same work in half the time. As I got to be in the classroom a few times, I can honestly say it could be quite chaotic and very fast paced. Though, K enrollment in our district is quite low, as most parents opt to send their kids to full day at the private and catholic schools - then we get a huge surge in enrollment for first grade! When Conor was in K, there were 30 kids enrolled between the AM and PM sessions - when he went to first grade, there were 44 children enrolled. Our district has been exploring the option of full day K but the biggest hurdle is space - our school does not have any available class rooms and no room to add on. We already only have an "all purpose" room - so no gym, no cafeteria (the kids eat their desks!) and no auditorium - just the one room that can barely hold all 260+ students at once. Not all of the schools in our district have this problem, but it is our biggest hurdle right now.

[murphy1]

We are in such a great district, I don't know why people complain about GA being in the lower end of all the states on education, they are building schools here like crazy and the teachers are awesome. My dd's kind class is only 15 kids with two teachers. We also have been helped for my oldest dd with Speech and the guidance counselor has tutored her and kept an eye on her. I feel very, very lucky, this is probably the biggest reason I haven't moved back to Florida.

[honeybear]

This new bill almost sounds like how our school system is here. School starts the Wednesday after Labor Day and Ends the 2nd or 3rd week in June. They get a week at Christmas time, A week in February, and a week in April. I am not sure if they still do, but when I was little we used to get off for Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur. (Please forgive me if I have spelled this incorrectly). I really had no idea how much the school calendar differed from state to state. I thought all the schools in the north started in September, and the schools in the south began in August.

I hope the bill works out for you!

[snifflesmcg]

Oh how this subject makes me mad. School keeps starting earlier and eariler every year. I think that school should start AFTER Labor Day and end the first week of June.

[kakn7294]

Our district does not have full day kindergarten either. However, my cousin's DD (same age as my oldest) attends a school with full-day K and I can tell you that while she learned more than my DD did in K and was slightly further ahead in 1st grade, by the time they reached 2nd and definately in 3rd grade, they were at the same level, learning the same things. The full-day K didn't have a significant impact on their educations at all after 2nd grade.

As far as the number of days required for a school year, I've lived in PA my entire 38 years so I am fully aware that PA law states that school must be in session for 180 days a year. I don't want the actual 180 day school year shortened - what I want to see eliminated in order to shorten the school year is all of those 3 day weekends for snow days and in-service days and no long spring break. I realize that they can't all be eliminated as the teachers are required to have those in-service days, but why can't they be combined in some cases - make the snow days in conjunction with the in-services and holidays (MLK and Presidents day spring to mind)? We have a 10 day spring break that most parents and teachers I've talked to don't like having. And looking at my girls school calendar for this year, we have 181 days scheduled, 1 day more than required by law. It's hard getting my girls to accept that they have to go to school when their cousins in different districts aren't going.